N.C. Wildlife News Brief - August 30, 2013

Dove Season Starts Monday, Sept. 2

Dove season opens Sept. 2, a Monday. Shooting hours for the entire season, including opening day, begin a half-hour before sunrise. Prior to 2012, shooting hours for opening day began at noon.

The Home From The Hunt™ campaign encourages hunters to be safe and responsible in the field, and the Wildlife Commission encourages experienced hunters to take a new hunter along with them. Read more here.

2013-14 Waterfowl Seasons, Bag Limits, Other Limits Set

The N.C Wildlife Resources Commission has set season dates, bag limits and applicable regulations for the 2013-14 waterfowl and extended falconry seasons.

Click here for the 2013-14 bag limits, shooting hours and season dates for waterfowl seasons occurring after Sept. 30.

Read more about a system of blinds the Commission has created on North River, J. Morgan Futch and Spring Creek impoundments here.

Public Hearings Scheduled for January

The N.C.Wildlife Resources Commission’s annual public hearings for proposed changes in wildlife and fisheries management rules have been moved back to January 2014.After adjusting its rule cycle in 2010, the Commission began holding the public hearings in September. Public hearings allow the agency to inform the publicand interested parties about proposed regulations that affect them and to receive their input. Check out the January 2014 schedule and make plans to attend one.

New Wildlife Commissioners Installed

The N.C.Wildlife Resources Commission installed 11 commissioners at its business meeting yesterday. The 19-member board establishes policy and regulations governing statewide conservation efforts, as well as hunting, fishing and boating activities in North Carolina. Members serve until reappointed or replaced. Appointments are made by the Governor, the Speaker of the state House and the President Pro-Tem of the state Senate. See the appointments here.

Save Time, Go Online

Purchase licenses and permits, with a major credit card, quickly and easily by going online. Need a 2013-14 Inland Fishing, Hunting, and Trapping Regulations Digest?Click here.

Visit the Commission's Mountain State Fair Exhibit, Sept. 6-15

Visiting western North Carolina in early September? If so, be sure to check out the Wildlife Commission’s exhibit at the Mountain State Fair, which runs from Sept. 6-15, in Fletcher, N.C.,Henderson County.

We’ll have an American kestrel display, and several hands-on activities, such as a “Nerf”archery game, a “pond” where kids can test their fishing skills, and a mobile aquarium with freshwater fish. Don’t forget to pick up a free button (left), a traditional state fair keepsake, along with other wildlife-related items,such as kids’ fishing coloring books, fish identification guides, fish stickers and tattoos, and back issues of Wildlife in North Carolina magazine.

North Carolina Celebrates National Hunting and Fishing Day, Sept. 28

Join us on Sept. 28 as we celebrate National Hunting and Fishing Day in North Carolina.

The Wildlife Resources Commission is hosting or supporting seven family-oriented events that highlight our state’s extraordinary hunting and fishing heritage and remarkable wildlife conservation efforts through the years.

North Carolina Welcomes 20 New Wildlife Enforcement Officers in Public Service

The new wildlife officers completed 20 weeks of rigorous and intensive training,culminating in graduation ceremony on Aug. 2 at Campbell University and now they have begun six months of on-the-job training under supervision of a veteran wildlife officer. Read more here.

Last Chance! Smallmouth Bass T-Shirt Heading to the Vault

The official Wildlife Commission smallmouth bass T-shirt will go into the vault at the end of September, so this is your last chance to buy this handsome, 100%cotton T-shirt featuring the Wildlife Commission’s official logo and a leaping smallmouth bass. The back of the shirt showcases all of the wildlife buttons created by Wildlife in North Carolina magazine since 1981. Proceeds from shirt sales benefit the Commission’s Wildlife Diversity Program, thanks to a generous donation by Neuse Sport Shop, located in Kinston. Purchase shirts in child sizes from the Commission’s WildStore. Purchase shirts in all sizes from NeuseSport Shop.

Wildlife Diversity Program Quarterly Update is Online

Biologists in the Commission’s Wildlife Diversity Program conserve and promote nongame wildlife and their habitats through a variety of survey and monitoring programs, species management and habitat conservation or restoration projects.Did you know that more than 1,000 nongame animals call North Carolina home? Many animals are common and can be seen or heard in your own backyard while others, like the bald eagle, were, at onetime, considered endangered but now have good populations, thanks to the work conducted by Wildlife Diversity Program biologists. Learn more about projects conducted by Wildlife Diversity Program biologists by reading the quarterly reports.

WILD NOTES

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Readers of Wildlife in North Carolina magazine enjoy exceptional color photography and great articles on hunting, fishing, natural areas, conservation and wildlife in every issue. Subscribers also receive special spring and fall outdoor guides, with the latest hunting, fishing and outdoors information. One-year subscriptions are $12 and three-year subscriptions are $30, which makes it a bargain and great gift idea. Online subscriptions available here.

Help Keep North Carolina Wild

At one time endangered and on the brink of extinction, bald eagles and peregrine falcons today soar high in our Carolina blue skies thanks in part to the work of Wildlife Diversity Program biologists. These biologists conduct projects and programs on behalf of nongame and endangered wildlife — animals that are not hunted and fished. Their efforts on behalf of nongame and endangered wildlife are funded significantly through donations, such as the N.C. State Income Tax Check-off. Other ways you can donate to the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission’s efforts to keep the Tarheel state wild for generations to come can be found here.